Every 6-10 weeks someone asks me how I studied for the GMAT and any advice I have. Well, here’s my story!
Unfortunately, in college I was friends with a bunch of over achievers who thought it’d be a good idea to take the GMAT during senior year after they’d secured full time jobs. So, due to peer pressure and insecurity, I too signed up to take the test.
I took the ManhattanGMAT class which was ~7 weeks long. Each week consisted of 2 hours in a classroom, and 2 hours or so of homework. I’d say I did around 1/2 of the recommended homework each week. After taking the prep course, I immediately signed up for a date to take the actual exam which was about 2 weeks out. The date was during my finals week at NYU, but I wanted to take it before I headed out for a post-graduation trip to Asia with friends (the same ones who’d peer pressured me into taking this exam!!).
Before the prep course, I took a practice test and scored ~610 (my memory is slightly hazy, but it was in that ballpark). My goal was to get to a 700 by the time I took the test, and I was around a 680 by the time I finished the prep course.
The number one piece of advice for anyone taking this test is to create and use flashcards to internalize the information you need to answer the most difficult questions. This was a strategy I stole directly from my Dad who used it to become a doctor (much harder than getting into bschool – so it seemed battle tested).
With that in mind, I went through the 7-8 books that the test prep course had provided, and made a flashcard for any piece of info that I thought would help me answer questions. I made them for the types of triangles, grammar rules, and for the toughest types of questions (two trains going towards each other, the ones that require factorials, etc).
I had 200-300 flashcards, and would look at them when I had 5 mins on the subway, or while waiting for a friend. When I’d correctly answered a given card in three consecutive cycles (I put the card on the bottom of the deck after I’d tried to answer it), I discarded it.
The week before the test, I studied for 3-4 hours/day (mostly the flashcards plus some practice problems). The day before, I didn’t do anything but workout, eat some good food, and watch a movie. It’s important to rest your brain and de-stress! Now, I’d probably also do an extra long mediation session but I wasn’t into that back then.
I don’t remember exactly the slope of the curve, but there was a huge increase in my scores in the week before the test. I started off maybe at the 700 mark for a practice test, and then got a 720, and a 750 before my studying ended (don’t take too many practice tests. They are good to gauge where you’re at, but take a lot of time and aren’t very instructive in helping you improve). I’m pretty confident if I’d pushed the test back another week I could have continued to improve…but the commonly accepted rule says increasing your score above a 700 doesn’t help too much in getting you into school. Btw, I share these numbers only so you can see my progress from the original 610 to when I took the exam and what I did to get there – not to brag!!!
The day of the test of course I was a bit nervous. The worst part of the GMAT is that they ask you “do you want to accept this score” after you take the test. Basically, you can say “no” – and it’s like it never happened. But, if you “accept the score” it goes on your record. My advice: just accept the score unless you had a monumental meltdown for some reason. Because of the way the test works, you get harder questions if you answer questions correctly. So, if you’re getting hard questions, even if you can’t answer them, you’re doing well!
In the end, I scored a 740. I remember not being completely happy with the score when I got it, and the person working the front desk who’d given me the score basically said “I don’t get it – if I got that score, I’d be jumping up and down!”
My advice is to not put that much pressure on yourself. And, if you score above the range you need to get into your dream school, go celebrate! Luckily, I came to my senses about 10 mins after leaving the test center and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for a few days.
Good luck, don’t stress, and look forward to two of the best years of your life 🙂
Terrific post however I was wondering if you could write a litte more on this subject?
I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Appreciate it!
I really like what you guys tend to be up too.
Such clever work and exposure! Keep up the superb works
guys I’ve included you guys to my blogroll.
I think the admin of this web page is actually working hard in favor of his web site, as
here every data is quality based material.
Greetings! I’ve been reading your website for some time now
and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout
out from Atascocita Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the good job!
It’s very effortless to find out any topic on web as compared
to books, as I found this article at this web site.
You truly make that seem quite simple with your image aspect but We all find
such a matter becoming actually something which I think I will personally never discover.
It seems as well complex and also broad in my
experience. I am looking forward for your coming post, Sick and tired try to get the hang
of it!
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger,
and I was wanting to know your situation; many of us have
developed some nice methods and we are looking to trade
techniques with others, please shoot me an email if interested.
Hi there, constantly i used to check webpage posts here early in the
morning, because i love to learn more and more.
Pretty! This was an extremely wonderful article. Thank you for providing this information.
I think what you said was actually very
reasonable. But, consider this, what if you added a little content?
I ain’t saying your content isn’t solid, but what if you added a title that grabbed a person’s attention? I mean How I Studied
for the GMAT – Phil Strazzulla's
Blog is kinda vanilla. You should glance at Yahoo’s front page and watch how they create news titles to grab
people interested. You might add a related video or a related picture or
two to grab readers interested about everything’ve written.
In my opinion, it could make your website a little bit
more interesting.
Hi there to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this web page, and
your views are nice in favor of new viewers.
Keep this going please, great job!
What’s up i am kavin, its my first occasion to commenting anywhere, when i read this paragraph i
thought i could also make comment due to this brilliant paragraph.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if
you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically
tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and
was hoping maybe you would have some experience with
something like this. Please let me know if you run into
anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward
to your new updates.
Howdy, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam feedback?
If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you can advise?
I get so much lately it’s driving me crazy so any assistance is very much appreciated.
This design is steller! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well,
almost…HaHa!) Great job. I really enjoyed what you had
to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Do you have any video of that? I’d like to find out some additional information.
My brother suggested I may like this website.
He was totally right. This submit actually made my day.
You can not consider simply how much time I had spent for this info!
Thank you!
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It really useful & it helped me out much.
I’m hoping to provide something again and aid others like you aided me.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images
on this blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there, I read your new stuff like every week. Your story-telling style
is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
Spot on with this write-up, I really think this website needs a great deal more attention. I’ll probably be
returning to read more, thanks for the advice!
Good way of explaining, and good post to take information on the topic of my presentation subject,
which i am going to present in university.
Hi! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d ask.
Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa?
My blog discusses a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly
benefit from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to send me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you! Great blog by the way!
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I certainly enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I
will always bookmark your blog and may come back from now on. I want to encourage you to
continue your great job, have a nice day!
I am now not sure the place you’re getting your info,
but good topic. I needs to spend a while studying much more or
understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I
was in search of this info for my mission.
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant
for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to
create your theme? Excellent work!
Hi there i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i read this article i thought i could also make comment due
to this sensible paragraph.
Very descriptive article, I loved that bit. Will there be a part 2?
Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer for your site.
You have some really good articles and I believe I would be a good asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine.
Please shoot me an email if interested. Thanks!
Thank you, I’ve just been searching for info about this topic for ages and yours is the best
I’ve discovered so far. But, what in regards to the bottom
line? Are you positive about the source?
This design is wicked! You definitely know how to keep a
reader amused. Between your wit and your videos,
I was almost moved to start my own blog (well,
almost…HaHa!) Excellent job. I really loved what
you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Hey There. I discovered your weblog the usage of
msn. This is a very well written article. I’ll be sure to
bookmark it and return to learn more of your useful info.
Thanks for the post. I will certainly comeback.
I think the admin of this web site is really working hard in support
of his web site, for the reason that here every information is quality based information.
Your style is so unique in comparison to other folks I have
read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this web site.
Superb blog you have here but I was curious if you knew of any discussion boards that
cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get
advice from other experienced individuals that share the same
interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me
know. Appreciate it!
If you are going for best contents like I do, simply pay a visit this web page everyday for
the reason that it presents quality contents, thanks
I have been browsing on-line greater than three hours as
of late, but I never found any fascinating article like yours.
It’s lovely price sufficient for me. Personally, if
all web owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the internet will likely be much more helpful than ever before.
Fantastic goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to
and you are just extremely wonderful. I really like what you’ve acquired
here, certainly like what you’re stating and the way in which
you say it. You make it entertaining and you still
take care of to keep it wise. I can’t wait to read much more from you.
This is really a wonderful website.
Hi, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this post.
It was practical. Keep on posting!
Great post. I was checking constantly this blog
and I am impressed! Extremely useful information specially the last part 🙂 I care for such info much.
I was looking for this particular info for a very long time.
Thank you and best of luck.
I know this site provides quality depending posts and additional material,
is there any other website which presents these kinds of things in quality?
If you are going for most excellent contents like I do, only visit
this web page everyday since it offers quality contents,
thanks
Its not my first time to go to see this web
page, i am visiting this site dailly and take fastidious data
from here daily.
I like the valuable information you supply on your articles.
I’ll bookmark your weblog and take a look at again here regularly.
I am quite sure I’ll be told many new stuff proper here!
Good luck for the next!
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site so i
came to return the want?.I am attempting to in finding things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to make use
of some of your ideas!!
Hi there to every one, the contents existing at this website are really remarkable for people experience,
well, keep up the good work fellows.
I think this is among the so much important information for me.
And i’m glad studying your article. But want to observation on some basic things, The site
taste is ideal, the articles is in reality excellent :
D. Excellent task, cheers
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It
really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided
me.
In fact no matter if someone doesn’t understand
afterward its up to other visitors that they will help, so here it happens.